What is Pentecost and what happened on the day of Pentecost? On the day of Pentecost, Christians remember the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. But what did the coming of the Holy Spirit mean for humanity?
The promise of the Father
When they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, saying, Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And He said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight (Acts 1:6-9)
After Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus had spent 40 days with His disciples and taught them about the Kingdom of God. When they were on Mount Olives, Jesus commanded them to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father. The disciples thought, that Jesus was referring to the restoration of the kingdom of Israel. But Jesus spoke about another kingdom: the Kingdom of God.
Jesus answered His disciples, that it was not for them to know the times or the season, because only the Father knew. Jesus continued and promised, that they would receive power after that the Holy Ghost would come upon them. So that, they would become His witnesses and would bring the Word into all the world.
After Jesus ascended to heaven, the disciples went back to Jerusalem, to the upper room. The disciples waited in the upper room for the promise of the Holy Ghost.
Waiting for the promise of the Holy Ghost
While the disciples were in the upper room in Jerusalem, the celebration of the feast of weeks took place. This feast of weeks is also known as the feast of the first fruits. All the Jewish males came from all over the world to the temple in Jerusalem. They went to the temple, to give God their first fruits. They gave Him a freewill offering of their hands and rejoiced before the Lord their God. On that day, they remembered the time that they were a bondman in Egypt.
The celebration of the feast of weeks took place at the time, that the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ were gathered together in the upper room. While they were praying, they waited for the promise of the Holy Ghost.
They didn’t know, that they would become the first fruits of the new creation on the day of the celebration of the feast of the first fruits.
What happened on the day of Pentecost?
When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine (Acts 2:1-13)
During the feast of weeks, when the 120 disciples were gathered together in the upper room and while they prayed, the Holy Ghost came upon the disciples. On the day of Pentecost, the disciples were filled with the Holy Ghost and the birth of the new creations; the new man took place.
The spirit of man was raised from the death
on the day of Pentecost
What God lost in the Garden of Eden, He got back in the upper room; His sons and daughter. When the Holy Ghost came upon the disciples, their spirit became awake and rose from the dead. Through the baptism with the Holy Ghost, they received God’s nature. They became a new creation; a new species. It was the end of the carnal nature of the old fallen man.
It was the beginning of a New Covenant in the Spirit; the Holy Spirit made man’s spirit alive and reunited the spirit of the believers with the Spirit of God.
On the day of Pentecost the new creation was born
On the day of Pentecost, the new creation was born. The new creation was seated in Jesus Christ and received Jesus His authority. They were no longer slaves of the old sin nature of fallen man and therefore they were no longer slaves of the devil. They became masters over sin and death and masters over the devil and his evil spirits (demons).
Before they received the Holy Ghost and became a new creation, their spirit was still dead and they were controlled and led by their flesh; their senses, emotions, thoughts, feelings, will, lusts, desires, etc.
Therefore the coming of the Holy Spirit came with a visible and audible manifestation. They heard a sound, coming from heaven, as of a mighty wind and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
The promise of Jesus had come to pass, which was the promise of the Holy Ghost.
On the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost came upon them, they became part of the (spiritual) Body of Jesus Christ; the Church. They received His Spirit and His nature. The Holy Ghost took His place in their bodies and their bodies became His dwelling place; His temple.
Speaking in other tongues
Jesus said, that they would be His witnesses in the entire world. When the disciples received the baptism with the Holy Ghost, they began to speak in other tongues. The Holy Ghost spoke through them and witnessed of Jesus Christ the Messiah and the marvelous works of God. Just like Jesus had foretold His disciples, when Jesus said, that the Holy Ghost would be His witness. And that’s exactly what happened on the day of Pentecost. Because the 120 disciples began to speak in new tongues and spoke in all kinds of different languages.
The Jews, who came from other countries and were all gathered together in Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of the weeks, heard this sound. They came together and heard them speaking in their own languages.
The Jewish people were amazed and marveled, because how could these Galileans, who were not skilled, speak in their own languages about the marvelous works of God? How was that possible?
They didn’t know, that the Holy Ghost spoke through them about the marvelous works of God.
Then Peter stood up with the 11 disciples and spoke with boldness. Peter, who had denied Jesus three times, because he was afraid for his own life, now stood up in boldness. In the power of the Holy Ghost, he spoke boldly to them.
“I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh”
Peter testified of the Word; Jesus Christ, and testified about the promise, which God had given by the prophet Joel, who said:
It shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered (Joel 2:28-32)
Peter witnessed of Jesus the Christ, His death and resurrection. When they heard Peter preach, they were all pricked in the heart and asked what they had to do? Peter answered them: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost”.
They obeyed his words and got baptized. And on the day of Pentecost, about 3000 souls were added.
What a great timing of God! On that day of Pentecost, on the day of the feast of the weeks, the feast of the first fruits, when the Jewish people were gathered from every nation, in Jerusalem, the promise of the Holy Spirit came. At the right moment; on the right day and at the right time, God came and about 3120 became the first fruits of the new creation.
‘Be the salt of the earth’
